Child of the Green
by joop-pa-pa96
Summary: Azriela (Aza) is the apprentice of Gandalf the Grey. She, along with her companion Cobryn, must journey to destroy the One Ring. But things can never be that simple. As she pushes forward, ghosts of her past haunt her every step. She can only wonder how long it will be before they consume her. Legolas/OC.
1. Chapter One: 111st Birthday

_"It began with the forging of the Great Rings._

 _Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest, fairest of all beings._

 _Seven to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls._

 _And Nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men who, above all else, desire power._

 _For within these rings was bound the strength and will to govern each race._

 _But they were all of them deceived, for another ring was made._

 _In the land of Mordor, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a Master Ring to control all others...and into this Ring he poured his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life._

 _One Ring to rule them all..._

 _One by one the Free lands of Middle earth fell to the power of the ring. But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of Men and Elves marched against the armies of Mordor. On the slopes of Mount Doom they fought for the freedom of Middle- Earth. Victory was near! But the power of the Ring could not be undone. It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword._

 _Sauron, the enemy of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth, was defeated._

 _The Ring passed to Isildur...who had this one chance to destroy evil forever._

 _But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own. It betrayed Isildur to his death. And some things that should not have been forgotten...were lost._

 _History became legend...legend became myth._

 _And for two and a half thousand years the Ring passed out of all knowledge. Until-."_

 _The Lady Galadriel looked and saw the attention of her pupil had wandered to a brightly colored butterfly that happened to be passing through. She crossed her delicate arms slowly. She cleared her throat to get the girl's attention._

 _It was probably a mistake to bring a girl like her outside on a day like this. The sun was shining on this warm spring morning. There was a small chance that she was going to be focusing on her lessons with all the beauty of nature surrounding her._

 _The young girl's head snapped to her teacher. Her pale cheeks filled with color. "I-I'm sorry, it was just…" she looked back to the insect that was flittering away. She looked to the lady again. "I_ _ **am**_ _listening. I promise."_

 _"Then what was I just discussing?"_

 _"The…" she searched for the answer. Her blue eyes brightened as she remembered, "…Ring! The One Ring."_

 _Lady Galadriel nodded and noticed the girl's eyes wandering again. "That will be enough for today; I believe you wanted to see the trees on the edge of the garden?"_

 _The girl nodded vigorously. "Yes, please."_

 _The beautiful female elf held out her hand. "Then we shall go. Come, Azriela."_

 _The girl took her mistress's hand and followed her through the garden._

* * *

The picture of two men, one driving a cart filled with unknown treasures and the other on horseback, and a woman on foot would bring up the question of why was a young, able bodied, man and an elderly man allowing a woman to walk. Surely a man with some years under his belt would have some sort of manners when it comes to treating a woman with respect. Surely the young man would volunteer to walk so that the woman would not tire out.

No, no they would not. For the alternate was far worse. One of them would be tired and the woman in question would become travel sick in a matter of seconds.

Azriela, among her many other faults, hated horses. Not only due to their nature as one of the more stuck up creatures she had come across, but mostly due to the fact that once her feet left the ground she would turn greener than a lush meadow on a summer's day.

Her master, a man of many years with the long grey beard to prove it, drove the wagon. He hummed a merry tune that was getting on Cobryn's nerves, but the man said nothing.

There was her "protector", Cobryn. He was a stern faced man who seemed to look down on everything he saw. His eyes were a pale green, his black hair fell to about his shoulders, and his cheekbones were sharp and connected to produce a sort of pointy chin. He was an impressive looking man and, if it weren't for his attitude, would have likely married well a long time ago.

Then there was also Aza herself. She was a tiny girl, about average height, but slimly built. However, underneath the thick robe she wore, one wouldn't be able to tell. Her hair was rich earth brown and fell to about her waist. Her eyes were a twinkling blue.

As they approached their destination, a small figure emerged from the trees on their right.

"You're late."

Gandalf, not turning his head, said to the Hobbit, "A Wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

Aza could hardly contain her laughter as the two held each other's stares for a few seconds. Finally the two burst into laughter. With the mood broken, the young woman also began to laugh.

Frodo, a young Hobbit with wide blue eyes and curly brown hair, leapt into the cart. "It's wonderful to see you, Gandalf!" He shouted, hugging the wizard.

They broke and Gandalf said, "You didn't think I'd miss your Uncle Bilbo's birthday?"

Frodo looked over at Aza and Cobryn. "Who are they?"

"My apprentice, I do believe I've told you of her. At least your uncle should have," he gestured to Aza, who smiled. "Azriela. And this is Cobryn, her companion."

Cobryn merely gave a disinterested look at the Hobbit and looked away. Long ago, Aza had warned him that if he couldn't say anything nice he shouldn't say anything at all. It had taken months of conditioning, but it was finally accomplished.

The young Hobbit's eyes widened, "Azriela Dragon Tongue?"

Aza looked to her master, "Is that what they're calling me now?"

Gandalf gave a nod.

"Uncle Bilbo has told me how you confronted the dragon," Frodo moved so that he could talk to her. "You talked to it."

Cobryn gave a snort at the awe in Frodo's voice.

"It's not like I killed it," Aza said, trying to brush it off. She gave Cobryn a look and turned back to Frodo

Frodo sat in the seat next to Gandalf and they continued to make their way through the Shire. Turning to the Wizard Frodo finally said, "What news of the outside world? Tell me everything!"

Gandalf looked down at the hobbit and, with a merry tone, said, "What, everything? Far too eager and curious for a Hobbit. Most unnatural..."

Aza gave a smile she joked, "What will the neighbors say?"

"Well, what can I tell you? Life in the wide world goes on much as if it has past age. Full of its own comings and goings, scarcely even aware of the existence of Hobbits," Gandalf said, "for which I am very thankful."

They passed some Hobbits setting up tents for the party.

The young woman smiled at the simplicity of it all. She had missed the quiet and simple life she had led before all this excitement.

"Ah, the long expected party," Gandalf muttered.

"So, how Bilbo? I hear this is going to be quite the party," Aza said, looking up at Frodo.

She noticed how blue the Hobbit's eyes were as he looked down at her, "You know Bilbo...he's got he whole place in an uproar."

"Oh, well...that should please him," Gandalf said.

"Half the Shire's been invited..."

"Good gracious, me," Aza said in a joking manner, "and me without my party dress."

Frodo then said, quite seriously, "He's up to something."

"Oh, really?" said Gandalf and turned his head to avoid meeting Frodo's eyes.

"Alright then..keep your secrets. Before you came along we Bagginses were very well thought of."

"Indeed?"

"Never had any adventures or did anything unexpected."

"If you're referring to the incident with the Dragon...I was barely involved...all I did was give your Uncle a little nudge out the door."

Aza, under her breath, said, "It was a bit more than a nudge."

Frodo smiled, "Whatever you did...you've been officially labeled as a Disturber of the Peace."

"Oh, really?"

They passed by a house and a Hobbit looked at the trio of strangers with suspicion. Cobryn gave the old Hobbit a glare that made him turn. Aza looked to her companion, he was under control but he was not on his best behavior as she had asked him to be prior to their arrival in the Shire.

A gaggle of children followed the cart from behind.

Aza, noticing their presence, smiled. With a small movement of her fingers set off a few sparklers in the back of the cart. The children laughed and shouted with glee at the excitement.

"If you use them all now," Gandalf said, with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed his approval of the use of her magic, "there will be none for tonight."

"It's a waste," Cobryn grumbled at her.

Aza rolled her eyes at Cobryn. To her master she said, "It was just a bit of harmless fun. I promise to wait until tonight."

Gandalf nodded at her and turned his head back to the road.

Frodo stood up in the cart as Gandalf pulled the reigns of the horses to a halt. "Gandalf... I'm glad you're back." He looked to the walking woman and said, "It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Azriela."

"So am I, dear boy...so am I."

"That's Aza to you, Frodo," Aza called out as the Hobbit jumped from the cart and scampered off.

The three travelers finally reached a hobbit hole. At the gate hung a sign which read "NO ADMITTANCE EXCEPT ON PARTY BUSINESS."

Cobryn looked to his mistress and Aza nodded, allowing him to stay with the cart. The man eyed the small creatures with distrust and distaste.

The master and his apprentice walked past the sign and up to the door. Gandalf, using the end of his staff, rapped against the front door.

From within the home an older, cranky voice called out, "No, thank you! We don't want any more visitors, well wishers, or distant relations."

"And what about very old friends?"


	2. Chapter Two:Of Very Old Friends and Wine

_A young girl with dark hair, covered in leaves and twigs, looked up at the stern faced elf man with wide blue eyes. He looked down at her; unsure of what it was she wanted._

 _She opened her mouth as if to say something, and then closed it._

 _They were silent for, what seemed like, forever. All the while they stared at one another._

 _The girl, who looked no older than a daughter of man of six years, pulled on the elf's robe. He raised an eyebrow._

 _She furrowed her eyebrows and puckered her lips in a pout. With a bit more strength she tugged on his robes once again._

 _He didn't move._

 _Reaching up, she grabbed onto his hand and pulled. With her being still highly malnourished, he was able to lift her without problem. Her legs dangled in the air and kicked. A small noise, like that of laughter, escaped her lips._

 _It was the first noise of joy she had made since coming to Rivendell._

 _The elf set her down on the ground again._

 _"Again," she said, her voice, weak and hoarse. "Elrond, again!"_

 _For a moment he was in shock. Since she had been brought to the elven city, she had not spoken a word. Elrond, as well as many others, believed that she could not speak._

 _She pulled on his arm._

 _He knelt before her, coming face-to-face with the small girl. "Azriela?"_

 _The girl tilted her head. Finally she said, "Please?"_

 _As if the word was magic, he lifted her into the air. This time, he held her in his hands and carried her to Gandalf and Radagast._

 _The wait was over._

* * *

The door opened to reveal a Hobbit that was older than Aza remembered. He looked from the older wizard to the younger woman, "Gandalf? Aza?"

"Bilbo Baggins!"

"My dear Ganda-!"

Bilbo was interrupted by an attack from the young woman, "Bilbo!" She embraced the Hobbit fiercely and laughed as she did so. "Oh, how I've missed you!"

"Aza!"

Gandalf chuckled. It had been a long time since the two had seen another.

Aza released Bilbo, "You're so old!" she blurted out.

Bilbo spluttered.

Gandalf chuckled. After so much time with those who could not age, the tiniest change in appearance never went unnoticed by her.

"You haven't aged a day!" Gandalf assured the Hobbit. Once Gandalf got a better look at him, Gandalf realized he was right, well half right. Bilbo did not look his age, of course Aza would not have realized.

The three laughed as they entered the Hobbit hole. "Come on, come in! Welcome, welcome!" Bilbo shouted.

The young woman looked about with interest. It was far less organized than the first time she was there. Small souvenirs and nick-knacks covered the tables and shelves. It certainly was not the same Hobbit hole she had visited all those years ago. Then again, Bilbo was not the same Hobbit as he had been all those years ago.

Bilbo, ever the gentlehobbit, took Gandalf's hat and staff saying, "Tea? Or maybe something stronger... I've a few bottles of the Old Winyard left, 1296" he took Aza's staff as well, "...a very good year, almost as old as I am. It was laid down by my father. What say we open one, eh?" Bilbo disappeared into the kitchen to get them some refreshments.

"Just tea, thank you," said Gandalf and turned only to bump into the chandelier and then turn to hit his head on a beam .

"The wine, please!" Aza called out. She smiled; it had been far too long since she had tasted Hobbit wine.

From beyond their vision, Bilbo continued to say, "I was expecting you some time last week. Not that it matters, you come and go as you please, always have done, always will. Aza, I haven't seen you in ages. What have you been up to? Gandalf would only say you were 'training'. You've caught me a bit unprepared, I'm afraid...we've only got cold chicken, bit of pickle, some cheese here...ooh, no, that might be a little risky..."

Aza looked over some of his papers. Among them was a very familiar artifact, Throin's map of the Lonely Mountain. She caressed the paper lovingly; so many memories were wrapped up in that paper.

Meanwhile, Bilbo had continued talking, "Er, we've got raspberry jam and apple tart...got some custard somewhere. Not much for Afters, I'm afraid. Oh no...we're alright...I've just found some sponge cake. Nice little snack. Hope it's enough." He walked up to the apprentice, but Gandalf was nowhere to be seen. "I could do you some eggs if you like?"

Bilbo jumped as Gandalf appeared behind him, saying ,"Just tea, thank you."

"Oh…right. You don't mind if...?"

"No, not at all. Go ahead."

A loud knock was heard coming from the front door. Aza could hear someone in a high pitched voice, calling, "Bilbo Baggins, you open this door...I know you're in there.

With a hiss, Bilbo whispered, "I'm not home." His back was flat against the wall, trying to hide from the unseen visitor. "I've got to get away from these confounded relatives, hanging on the bell all day, never giving me a moment's peace. I want to see mountains again...mountains, Gandalf... and then find somewhere quiet where I can finish my book...Oh, tea!" During his ramble, he had moved back into the kitchen and had noticed that Gandalf's tea was finished.

"So, you mean to go through with your plan, then?" Gandalf said, sitting down. Aza sat down on the opposite chair.

"Yes, yes...it's all in hand. All the arrangements are made."

Calmly, Gandalf said, "Frodo suspects something."

"Course he does, he's a Baggins...not some block headed Bracegirdle from Hardbottle!"

"You will tell him, won't you?"

"Yes, yes," Bilbo said, handing a glass of wine to Aza.

She downed it almost imminently and thrust the cup back out for a refill.

"He's very fond of you."

"I know. He'd probably come with me if I asked him. I think, in his heart, Frodo's still in love with the Shire, the woods and the fields... little rivers." He gazed out the window, a dreamy look in his eye. "I am old, my friends..." He looked to Gandalf and Aza. "I know I don't look it, but I'm beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin...sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday...a very long holiday and I don't expect I shall return...in fact, I mean not to."

They sat and chatted for a bit. It wasn't until Cobryn knocked insistently on the door that Aza remembered her companion. Excusing herself, she left the two to go set up the fireworks.

Cobryn was not pleased at the time they took. "The barrel-rider have anything to say?"

"Manners, Cobryn, manners," Aza chastised lightly. "His name is Bilbo. And yes, though I feel as though our time in the Shire will not be a long one."

"Good, I'm sick of these runty creatures," he hissed.

"Manners, Cobryn, manners…"


	3. Chapter Three: Dancing and Fireworks

_Blue eyes, filled with terror, watched as men and women chased her. While her eyes were always filled with terror, seeing the people happened every so often as she looked over her shoulder and the people would be closer. She didn't understand why they were chasing her. What had she done wrong? Her tiny legs could barely keep her ahead of them and finally they gave out. She tripped and fell face down in the dust._

 _Cries of "monster", "demon", "witch", and "plague" were shouted at her. The leader grabbed her roughly by the arm and lifted her off the ground. She cried out in pain as her arm popped out of its socket._

 _"We caught it!" he cried and the mob dragged her back to the village, all the while she screamed and begged for them to let her go._

 _It felt like hours that they tortured her, trying to get her to confess to her misdeeds against the ignorant villagers._

 _She was tied to a pole in the middle of the village, her clothes stripped from her. There, they whipped her mercilessly. Angry red gashes littered her skin. The tiny child wept, still wondering what she had done to deserve this treatment._

 _"Please, I didn't do it!" she shouted at the top of her lungs._

 _"Liar!"_

 _"Witch!"_

 _"Kill her!"_

 _"Burn her!"_

 _It was only after she was exhausted beyond measure and her body completely battered, that they tied her down to the wood pile and began to set it on fire._

 _Her throat was raw from her screams, now all she did was sit there and wait. She hoped that it was all over now. She closed her eyes and awaited death to follow._

* * *

A burst of light and fire lit up the sky, Aza smiled as sparks flew to and fro.

"Another!" she called to Cobryn, eyes full of child-like glee.

The man grumbled, but fetched another firework and returned to her.

Gandalf moved it into the right position and then Aza, using her fire magic, lit the fuse with a single finger. The three took several steps back to give the explosive room. It flew into the air and exploded, creating brilliant lights in the night sky.

Aza looked over and could see some Hobbits dancing to the cheery music. Some Hobbits were drinking heavily or eating heavily and still some were offering Birthday greetings to Bilbo.

Gandalf gave Aza a look that told her that it was her turn to take care of the fireworks. She smiled and nodded. Once he was gone she turned to Cobryn. "Your turn," she handed him her heavy robe and ran off to dance and drink with the others.

As she danced off, Cobryn glared at her.

The young woman snuck up behind Bilbo as he told his story about the trolls to a group of young Hobbits.

"So, there I was" he said in a very dramatic fashion, "at the mercy of three monstrous trolls. Have you ever heard of a troll? Do you know what a Troll is? Great big nasty twenty foot high smelly things…and they're arguing...arguing about how they were going to cook us!"

A little Hobbit girl made a face of fright. Aza smiled. _"So cute…"_

"Whether it be turned on a spit or minced in a pie or whether they were going to sit on us one by one and squash us into jelly! But they spent so long arguing the whether-to's and why-for's that the sun's first light crept over the top of the trees...and turned them all to stone!"

Aza leaned down to Bilbo's shoulder just as the children gasped. "I think you're forgetting the part where Gandalf and I managed to move a rather large stone."

Bilbo jumped, but managed to regain his composure. "Of course, of course. You shouldn't sneak up on an _old_ man, you'll stun my heart." He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief.

Aza laughed. "Come." She helped her friend get up. "I know no one else, which means you must dance with me."

The older hobbit laughed as she pulled him to the dance. The children, however, followed them and Aza smirked. Snapping her fingers she caused small sparks to fly. The children laughed at the sight. Then, with a flourish of the hand, she created larger sparks that formed butterflies.

The children laughed and chased them.

"Come!" she insisted, "Dance with me!"

Bilbo laughed as he tried to keep up with her.

While still an average human height, she towered over the Hobbits that surrounded her. Her slim arms and legs flew around as she attempted to dance in the same manner the other Hobbits were. However, she looked just as awkward as Gandalf as he dance among them.

Letting out a laugh Aza spun in a circle, the frayed material of her dress poofing out slightly.

It was only when a firework came from far where Cobryn was shooting them off, that she paused her dancing. Her eyes widened.

"Uh-oh," she muttered as she realized which one had gone off. Looking over at Cobryn, his expression betrayed his surprise.

As the firework's sparks morphed themselves into the form of a dragon, Aza shouted to the other Hobbits, "Get down!" She looked to Bilbo who was still unaware of the coming danger. "Bilbo, look out! Dragon!"

"There hasn't been a dragon in these parts for a thousand years!" was Bilbo's delayed response.

With a shove she managed to push Bilbo along so that he, as well as many other Hobbits, avoided the terrible fate of being barbequed by the firework dragon. The dragon flew into the horizon where it met it's end in an explosion of fireworks.

The Hobbits cheered, thinking it was all a part of the act.

Aza, Gandalf, and Cobryn, however, knew better.

They caught the perpetrators, two young, male Hobbits.

Gandalf grabbed them by the ears. " Meridoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took...I might have known…"

"What shall you do with them, master?" Aza asked, looking at the singed Hobbits. If that firework hadn't been so hard to create she might have felt sorry for them. Their hair was standing on end and covered in black soot from standing so close to the firework when it went off.

Gandalf gave them the task of washing dishes.

Cobryn, angry that someone had managed to trick him, watched them with a horrible look in his eye. If he had the power, he would have not just singed their hair as the firework had done. He would have seen to it that they were little better than marks on the ground.

"It's still dirty," he said and dropped the dish back in the barrel. "Again."

The two Hobbits groaned as more dishes were being piled next to them.

Aza and Gandalf sat farther off.

"It may have been a bit harsh to leave Cobryn in charge of them," Gandalf said.

"I'm not doing it for them," Aza said quietly as she sipped her ale. "If Cobryn doesn't feel like he has gotten revenge then he is going to be a nightmare later."

Gandalf nodded and raised his pipe to his lips.

As they settled into their seats, their vise in hand, many of the Hobbits cried for Bilbo to give a speech.

Bilbo obliged and, stepping onto a stool in order to be seen by the company, bowed at the applause. "My dear Bagginses, and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks...Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots..."

From the crowd, an older Hobbit with his feet propped up, shouted, "Proudfeet!"

"Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday. Yes, and alas...Eleventy- one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits! I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you as well as well as you deserve."

Half of the guests clapped and the other half tried to figure out if it was a compliment or not.

"I have...things to do and I have put this off for far too long...I regret to announce, this is the end. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell!"

With that, Bilbo disappeared from the crowd.

Aza's eyebrows knitted together. _"That's interesting…"_


	4. Chapter Four: The Ring

_"She may never speak," the fair haired, fair faced woman said. "The scars are deep and will never heal completely. She may never trust anyone from the race of man."_

 _Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, Radagast, and Galadriel watched a tiny girl stare up at the sky from her place in the garden. It had been two months since Radagast and Gandalf had rescued her from death. However the psychological scars left by the torture she had endured, had not healed._

 _Saruman, ever the practical wizard, said, "We don't even know what sort of power she has. She could be a danger to keep around." He looked to Gandalf and Radagast, the ones who had saved her, "Or if she has any powers at all."_

 _"I heard a voice call for help," Gandalf said, "and I answered it. No child of man deserves to go through what she has" "_ _ **If I have done any good, I have at least saved her life."**_ _He thought to himself._

 _Big blue eyes stared at the multicolored butterfly that flew just overhead. She reached for it and found that her sitting position would not allow this. So she stood, on wobbly and thin legs, to reach it. The insect flew away and, in small steps, she followed it._

 _The butterfly landed on a magnolia blossom. It was the last one on the dying tree. The bark of this tree was pealing to reveal darkening insides. The leaves were few and far between, giving the tree a grim look. She frowned, her lips turning down deeply. Small hands reached out and touched the trunk of the tree._

 _Galadriel watched all of this while Saruman and Gandalf spoke to each other. Her eyes never left the girl's figure, intent on keeping her safe while still giving her the freedom to move about. It puzzled her that the girl would be drawn to the most depressing plant in the garden. She had been meaning for the tree to be removed, giving it a quick death rather than letting it suffer as it did, but she watched as Azriela inspected the tree._

 _It was then that she saw it. A small light deep within Aza shone so that only someone deeply connected, not to mention actually paying attention, to magic could see it. The elf felt a ripple in the core of her being as something strong and warm flew out from the little girl._

 _She turned to Galadriel, her blue eyes meeting equally blue eyes._

 _Slowly, the tree began to sprout new buds. The branches and trunk began to repair themselves, it was an odd sight to watch but at the same time intriguing._

 ** _"Mithrandir,"_** _Galadriel spoke to Gandalf._

 _Gandalf turned his attention to the ever changing tree._

 _Saruman, Elrond, and Radagast also turned to watch what their friends were watching._

 _"It would appear you have saved a treasure after all," Saruman said quietly, almost to himself._

 _Aza's attention turned back to the tree, ignoring the five adults._

* * *

Cobryn growled lowly.

Aza's eyes widened.

Gandalf moved away from the party instantly.

The young girl turned her protector. In a moment, she swore, his eyes flashed gold. Moving up from her seat she almost spilled her drink. Cobryn's body was stiff as she dragged him away from the group of defenseless Halflings.

"Its power," he mumbled, in a slight haze.

"Cobryn!" she snapped at him, getting him to listen to her. "You will _never_ have gold or power again. I refuse to let you." Her voice had gone deep and powerful, like Gandalf's when he was intimidating someone. A deep powerful darkness surrounded her, only adding power to her words.

He winced as the weight of her words hit him. Green eyes glared at her. Hate, while not predominate, was still there deep within his eyes. Even after all that time with her, he still did not like her. He merely obeyed her as he had no choice. She had found the will to overpower him.

The darkness faded as her demeanor softened to her normal one.

"What shall we do?" he asked, secretly hoping for her to say they should have it.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Gandalf will handle it. He knows about these things better than I do."

"So we shall wait for your master to take the power for himself?" he asked. "I-You should take it. The old Hobbit won't be able to put up that much of a fight. And then I-you will have so much…po-."

Aza made a noise that meant she was done listening to him.

Cobryn was surprised, "Didn't you feel the power? The want? The need to have-?"

"Of course I did!" Aza said, "You'd have be a stone to not feel that. But…but once it was out of my sight I knew I shouldn't have it. It's evil…" she whispered the last part.

"Who cares?"

"I care!" Aza said, "I choose what I become. That's what I've been trying to teach you, Cobryn. It doesn't matter what you are or what you were, all that matters is what you try to become. I want you to aim for something better than what you were."

Cobryn scoffed, "I was the best I could be." He turned his head and glared at her, "And you pulled me down to your level. A disgusting, soft…male of the race of men. Even you don't like them."

"Just because you _look_ like one doesn't mean you _are_ one," she said quietly. Gripping her staff tightly in her hand, she said, "Come. We need to pack up the wagon, Gandalf will join us soon and we will know what we must do. In the meantime just…" she tried to think of something, "be silent."

She couldn't deal with Cobryn and his words right now.

The fact that her old friend, her old innocent friend had such an object disturbed her. She remembered that magical objects could corrupt people in the most horrifying ways. Her heart hoped that her old friend had not succumbed to the power of whatever that object held.


	5. Chapter Five: Moving With Swift Feet

_Gandalf led his apprentice through the city. Her hood was up and her head was down. Her eyes shifted from person to person. They were all strange to her._

 _Aza's eye met a man sitting next to a cart. It was loaded with animals, freshly killed and skinned and ready to cook. She approached the cart; her fingers almost touched the dead animals. Her eyes widened, the blood almost made her sick._

 _"Get yer hands off my goods, lass," the man growled._

 _Aza let out a squeak of fright._

 _"Aza, keep up," Gandalf said to her._

 _Turning her head she trotted to keep up with her master. Running away from the man as well._

 _She had learned her lesson long ago. It had been her first life lesson._

 _Monsters._

 _All of the race of men, monsters._

* * *

The trio left the comfortable hills and glades of the Shire with great haste.

So much so that Aza was forced to ride on a horse. Several times they had to stop their journey so Aza could fall to the side of the road and dry heave. Cobryn, ever indifferent to the needs of others, would then pick her up and throw her back over the saddle and continue to ride.

In this position, Aza would become even more nauseous

As they came closer to their destination, the air became foul.

"Master, where is it we are going?" Aza asked. "The air has a poisonous feel to it."

Gandalf said nothing, only pushed them forward.

The trio came to a library.

"Gandalf, what-."

"Sh," Gandalf said, silencing her. "Look for the account of Isildur, High King of Gondor…"

Aza obeyed and went to search for the correct papers. Meanwhile, Cobryn sat at the door. Not wanting to leave his mistress and her master, but not willing to get up and help them either,

This was not the first time Aza had braved a library in order to find some obscure fact her master wanted, but now this was different. Something in his manner of speaking and the haste in which he moved that was so unlike him. Aza hardly ever saw her master his distressed.

 _"It's that object,"_ she thought as she looked through books thicker than her arm. _"He's worried about what Bilbo had."_

Bilbo. She was happy to have learned that he had left the Shire to go live with the elves. It would be good for him. He seemed so tired.

It was then that she found a collection of papers. "Master!" she ran over and handed them to him.

His eyes lit up. "Yes…" Gandalf read from the pages. "The year 3434 of the Second Age...here follows the account of Isildur, High King of Gondor, and the finding of the ring of power. It has come to me...the ring of power. It shall be an heirloom of my Kingdom...all those who follow in my bloodline shall be bound to its fate, for I will risk no hurt to the ring...it is precious to me, though I buy it with great pain...The marking upon the band begin to fade...the writing which at first was as clear as red flame, has all but disappeared...a secret now that only fire can tell..."

"The one ring," Aza whispered, remembering hearing about it in her lessons.

 _"So…it has returned…"_ she felt an overwhelming want. For what, she did not know. All she did know is that she wanted it, and that want scared her.


	6. Chapter Six: Betrayed

_With bruised eyes, a little girl, too young to be exposed to the cruelty of this world, looked up at her rescuers. She struggled to even move. Every muscle in her body seemed to scream out in protest. Soon she gave up._

 _Her swollen eyes closed. Instead she focused on listening. Even with the faint ringing in her ears, they were still better than struggling to see with eyes that were being forced shut._

 _The kind, wizened man knelt and gently picked her up._

 _Her mouth, not able to open very far, let out a high pitched whine. She could muster up no more energy than that. He carried her to a waiting horse. Her eyes strained to see it. She had seen horses before, they were large to a girl of her size. She thought they were beautiful._

 _He carried her in the saddle and began to ride._

 _Instantly, she felt sick. Apart from the travel sickness, as the horse buckled, it jostled her. Aggravating her broken bones and bruises._

 _She opened her mouth to speak, to cry out, to scream, but sound didn't come from her sore vocal chords, and was instead sick all over the strange man's robe._

* * *

Aza and Cobryn traveled as fast as they could on foot. One of the horses had disappeared during their time in the library. Gandalf had taken the remaining horse. His journey was far more important that Aza and Cobryn's.

Even after many years as he was, Cobryn hated walking.

"I have a feeling," he said in between breaths, "that you loosed one of the horses on purpose."

"I would never," Aza said, her breath also ragged, "do such a thing."

Cobryn didn't retort, but he knew that Aza, even with her deep dislike of the powerful creatures, would not have jeopardized their mission because of her travel sickness.

"Where are we going?"

"Rivendell," Aza wheezed. She was not accustomed to this. It had been years since she was forced to travel at a fast pace. Even when she was training Cobryn, they did very little of this long walking. They mostly stayed in the frozen mountains, where there was very little for her travel to. Even their long journey to the Shire had been taken at a slower pace.

Cobryn's nose wrinkled in disgust, " _Elves."_

 _"I swear he hates them as much as dwarves do."_ Aza stopped for a moment, to catch her breath.

"Why have you stopped?"

"I'm tired."

"So?"

"I'm…exhausted…" She sat down. Her head began to throb.

Cobryn squatted down. "You're pale."

Aza placed her hands on her cheeks and forehead. Even to herself, her face was cold. Her head snapped back and she screamed. Images, with unknown meaning, flashed before her eyes. It was only when she calmed down, that the message was clear.

"Saruman has betrayed us."


	7. Chapter Seven: Flashback

_A merry laugh escaped the lips of a young woman as she raced through the garden. Her feet were bare, allowing the soles of her feet to be stained green from the grass and brown from the dirt. Dark hair, long and loose, flew out behind her like a cape._

 _Her figure was clear and defined by the long, willowy green dress she wore. It was far different from the loose fitting clothing she wore as a child. She had grown, quite quickly, but her aging seemed to have stopped once she looked to be in her early twenties. Her mindset, however, was still like a child's._

 _Delicate feet almost never touched the ground as she jumped and ran through the lush area. From a distance a white bearded man with beady eyes watched her. "She is coming along greatly," he spoke softly._

 _To his right stood Gandalf, in his mouth he held a long pipe. Occasionally he would exhale smoke; the pipe never left his lips. "Yes, she is." The smoke created rings as he exhaled them; however they were only created when the pipe left his mouth. When it didn't, it came out as just a breath._

 _"She would do best if she continued her lessons with me from now on," Saruman said with a decisive air._

 _Gandalf said nothing. But he did not agree._

 _"You do not agree?"_

 _"Azariela is a free spirit, if she feels she is being kept," he trailed off and then said, "we might not see her again."_

 _"Then what do you suggest?"_

 _Aza squealed as she managed to catch her prize. It was a butterfly, no bigger than the palm of her hand. The colors of its wings were vibrant that they borderline animated. She opened her hand to reveal the undamaged creature and smiled as it flew away._

 _She turned back to see Saruman and Gandalf watching her. She waved to them._

 _"Let her roam," Gandalf finally said._

 _"On her own?"_

 _"With me."_

 _A sweet, gentle voice from behind them said, "I agree." Both wizards turned to face Galadriel. "Aza would not be content to hide away in a tower. She would come to hate you and lash out like a caged animal." She looked over to the girl as the brown haired female resumed her play. "She repercussions could be immense."_

 _Saruman, seeing he was outnumbered, countered, "She fears the race of man."_

 _Gandalf replied, "She will have to overcome it. The race of man is too large to be hidden from."_

 _"Then who shall take her?"_

 _Gandalf removed the pipe from his mouth, "I shall."_

 _From the gardens they could hear Aza call to them. In her hands she held an uprooted flower. The flower had bright orange stripes and almost pointed petals. Dirt spilled out of her gaped fingers. "It was unhappy there," she said once she got close. "It wanted more sun. The trees were hogging it all."_

 _With a kind smile, Galadriel placed a hand on Aza's shoulder and guided her to a part of the garden where she could transplant her new friend. "I don't believe I had that planted."_

 _Aza shook her head, "It says that it blew in on a stray wind. It didn't really mean to end up here. But it's glad it did. Will you make sure it isn't mistaken for a weed when I'm gone?"_

 _"I'll be sure of it."_


	8. Chapter Eight: Not Invited

_A tinier version of Azriela blinked as her deep blue eyes began to focus for the first time. Everything was a blur. Splotches of green and brown were all that she could see. And the voices. The voices filled her ears, to the point where she could hear nothing else. They were all in a tizzy. All of them were talking about something that seemed to be of great importance._

 _And that thing appeared to be her._

 _"Oh what's this now?" a high pitched voice tutted. It was light and sweet._

 _"A sapling," a hoarse, wispy voice answered._

 _"A sapling?" a young, squeaky voice asked._

 _"It's huge. It'll crush us," a similar sounding voice cried out._

 _"It'll crush us all!"_

 _"Steal our sunlight!"_

 _"Oh hush now," the sweet voice tutted again. "It won't hurt you. It's just a sapling." The voice then addressed the girl. "Do you plan on crushing the sprouts, flesh sapling?_

 _Azriela was taken aback at being addressed. "No," she whispered back. "I don't want to hurt the sprouts."_

 _A great, strong, booming voice said, "There, she won't be hurting anyone. Now, flesh child. What is your intention here? Are you here to be transplanted? What wind brought you here?"_

 _With wide, blue eyes, Azriela blinked many times. "I don't think a wind brought me here. I wasn't here and then I was."_

 _"Where is your parent plant?" the wispy voice asked._

 _A few more of the young voices asked, "Are you a flower?"_

 _"Are you a tree?"_

 _"A weed?!" the last one shouted in fear._

 _"Not a weed!"_

 _The sweet voice interrupted them all, "It's not a weed, it's a_ _ **flesh**_ _sapling." With a kind tone, she called, "Come sapling. Stay with me."_

 _"You cannot keep it," the powerful voice chided._

 _"I've seen it done," the sweet voice said, "I've seen many flesh saplings born, grow, and produce more flesh saplings. I can take care of it. Don't be so cold. Come my sapling, let me hold you."_

* * *

Upon Aza and Cobryn's arrival at Rivendell, Aza relayed her news to Elrond and told him what Gandalf told her they must do. Word was send to all the peoples they could. Meanwhile, Cobryn and Aza rested. Both bathed and were clothed in the dress of the elves, giving them a the appearance that they too could be one of the elves they dressed as.

Cobryn, his curly black hair cleaned and combed, was dressed in green and silver. Every so often he would tug at the clothing, trying to make it looser. He complained to Aza about the tightness of his collar until Aza told him to be quiet.

Aza, too, was clean. Her long brown hair was clean of debre and had been braided and pinned so that it didn't touch the ground. She wore a jade green dress with silver embroidery and a silver headband. While she was at Rivendell she was expected to dress the part of a lady.

As they waited for news from her master, Aza would spend many of her hours in the gardens with only herself or Arwen.

Soon Frodo and Gandalf arrived. Frodo in grave condition.

Aza spent many nights beside him, using some of her healing to keep him from coming too close to the edge of life and death.

"He has betrayed us," Aza said to her master, her heart still not believing Saruman's treachery.

Gandalf had told Aza all that had happened. "Yes, and I fear that our days of peace are numbered."

Aza sighed, "I feel like they've been numbered from the beginning, that we were fools to think that peace could ever be accomplished."

With a raise of a grey eyebrow, Gandalf said, "You are quite wise for your age, my apprentice."

"I have learned from the best," she smiled and sat next to her smoking master. "What shall we do?"

"We shall wait, and see what happens." He exhaled a puff of smoke and it transformed into a marvelous shape that made Aza smile. "They have been summoned?"

Aza nodded, "Dwarves, Elves, Men…. All have been called."

Gandalf looked down at her as she watched the sun burn the sky. "He will come."

"Who?" she asked, her mind not quite on the conversation. Her attention was captured by how the light managed to create so many colors in the sky. She wondered what sort of magic could do such a thing of beauty.

Another puff of smoke, "You know of whom I speak. He will come, and you will have to face him. It could not last forever."

"I can try," Aza muttered. "My death broke me of my contract to him. My restored life has no baring on his. Besides," she stood, "I am not the same woman he knew. I doubt he shall even recognize me."

"That you are not. You are more yourself than you have ever been."

Aza turned to look at her master. He gave her an unreadable expression in return. "I shall still hide from him."

Nothing more was said on the subject.

"What time is the council meeting? I am expected to attend, aren't I?"

"No."

"Why?" Aza asked.

"We speak of serious matters," he stood.

"But-."

Gandalf did not indulge her. Instead he left her to herself and to Cobryn who would soon be joining her. An image of _him_ as she last knew him was very much alive in her mind. As she played out the possible outcomes of all of this, she wondered if she really had changed as much as she thought she did. Anger. Lots of anger could be expected. Tears, so many tears.

When he did come to her, he asked, "We are sneaking to watch, aren't we?" His green eyes tinkled with something evil.

"Oh, yes," she said quickly.


	9. Chapter Nine: Sneaking In

_With a cry, Aza, ran through the busy city streets of a man's city. Behind her were five or six children, all of which were bigger than her and all of which were male. They laughed and threw sticks and stones at her. Tears in her eyes and fear making her faster, she made her way to a tavern where she had left her caretaker._

 _He had told her to enjoy herself and explore the town. That had been a mistake on his part. Aza, still not quite over her fear of man, had edged around. Not quite getting involved and never getting to close. Her, apparent, shyness and timid nature made her a prime target for bullies and brutish children._

 _"Come back!" one of them taunted her._

 _She pushed her way through the doors and in to her master's lap. "Master!" she cried and threw herself at his side. Trying to hide herself in the material of his robe. "Master!"_

 _Gandalf pulled his pipe from his mouth to look at his apprentice and then the children who chased her. "I don't believe I know this game."_

 _The children, more intuitive than adults, ran from him as they sensed the anger they had aroused from._

 _He looked down at her and petted her head. She looked up. "Master?"_

 _He smiled, "They are gone."_

 _"Thank you," she whispered, still shaking from her experience with the children of men._

 _Yet another reason why she did not like or trust the race of men._

* * *

"Strangers from distant lands ... friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite...or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate...this one doom..."

"What did he say?" Cobryn asked his mistress.

Aza shushed him before turning her attention back on the meeting. She and her companion had managed to climb their way to a roof overlooking the council meeting. Among the attendees were dwarves, elves, and men. The only hobbits, however, were Frodo. _"And the other three hiding in the bushes_ ," Aza thought to herself.

Elrond continued, "Bring forth the ring, Frodo."

Frodo stepped forward and placed the small gold ring in the stone plinth.

Aza gripped the roof hard; greed began to filter in through the cracks of her control. She looked over at Cobryn through her peripheral vision. If it hadn't been for her control on him, he would have flown down and snatched up the ring without a second thought.

"So it is true!" a man shouted.

Aza's attention was back on the meeting.

A fair haired elf rose. Aza recognized him, "Sauron's Ring. The ring of power." Legolas. How could she forget that he would most certainly be there? She bit her lowerlip in an attempt to gain control over her reactions.

From then on the discussion was loud, but garbled. Aza frowned, didn't they know how to annunciate?

The discussion paused when a dwarf rushed forward to crush the ring with his axe. Instead of destroying the ring, the axe itself broke.

"Foolish dwarf," Cobryn muttered.

"Shhh!"

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom...only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor, and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this," Elrond said, addressing the counsel with wisdom.

Silence.

The counsel erupted in talk. Well, more like fighting. Dwarves argued with elves, men argued with dwarves, and elves argued with men. Altogether it looked to be a mess of a meeting.

Aza sighed. "If this is how they are going to act, then we are all doomed." Her gaze once more turned to the ring. It was so pretty. The power called to her like a song she couldn't quite remember. How she wanted to sneak down, while the others were busy bickering, and take it for herself. She licked her lips, wetting the chapped skin.

"I will take it!" Aza's attention turned to Frodo, who had stood. "I will take it...I will take the Ring to Mordor."

She sat up, breaking from their belly laying hiding.

"Though...I do not know the way. "

Gandalf rose to his feet, "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."

A man, who Aza knew to be Aragorn, stepped forward, "If, by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." He knelt before Frodo, "...you have my sword."

Legolas stepped forward, "And you have my bow."

"And my axe."

A man, whom Aza did not know but later learned to be a man from Gondor named Boromir, stepped up saying , "You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

It was then that the hiding hobbits emerged. Same shouted, "Here! Mr. Frodo's not gong anywhere without me."

Elrond, his expression not angry, said, "No, Indeed...it is hardly possible to separate you...even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.

Merry and Pippin jumped out from behind another bush

"Oi! We're coming too! You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us.

"Anyway...you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission...quest...thing..."

"Well, that rules you out, Pip."

A few of them laughed.

Aza stood and, in a very cinematic move, slid off the roof to land on some shrubbery. "Not without us!" She popped up, completely forgetting the company. "If they can go, surely I can as well." She ran over to her master.

Elrond surveyed them and watched, out of the corner of his eye as Cobryn joined her, "Eleven companions ... so be it. You shall be the "Fellowship of the ring"

"Great. Where are we going?"


	10. Chapter Ten: The Departure

_"…and they lived happily ever after," Arwen read to the young girl. Aza stared, in wonder, at the beautifully colored pictures. A man and an elf stood under a rose tree and held hands. The woman had such fair hair that Aza knew it couldn't have been so in real life. The man, though his features were not as beautiful as the woman's, was handsome for a mortal. Aza's eyes did not leave the final picture. "Did you like the story, hên?"_ _ **[child]**_

 _Aza said nothing, her fingers lightly traced the outline of the female elf. Then, with brows furrowed, she looked up at the elder elf and asked, "Why did she give up her life for the man?"_

 _Arwen smiled, "Because she loved him."_

 _"But, why?" Aza shifted on Arwen's lap, turning around. "She could have lived forever. Why did she choose to die for him?"_

 _"Oh, Aza," Arwen sighed and stroked the girls hair, "you'll understand one day. When you meet him, nothing else will matter. Not riches. Not looks. Not years."_

 _Aza said nothing, but secretly thought,_ _ **"I don't think so."**_

 _The thought of loving someone deeply, enough to give into something as silly as self-sacrifice, was foreign to her. She pushed all thoughts of this nonsense away to make room for the match of moss being deprived of sunlight on the windowsill of Arwen's chambers._

* * *

Gandalf did not punish his student. He knew she would be watching, with or without his verbal approval. However, her sudden appearance caused some disruption among the company. For one, Gimli son of Gloin. He was a red bearded dwarf with a gruff voice. He had heard of Aza's travels with Thorin's Company and flooded her with questions.

Boromir of Gondor, from the race of men. He objected to a woman's presence on the quest, but was overruled. Even if he hadn't objected to Aza's presence, Aza sill would not have liked him.

Aragon, or 'that man' as Aza used to call him, had no objections. But seemed to want to keep a closer eye on her, if only because Arwen was fond of her. Aza remembered seeing him often, the only reason she didn't hate him was because he was spent so much time around elves and was 'as good as an elf' in her opinion.

The Hobbits, while they didn't object, didn't pay her much attention either.

Then there was the only one in the company, besides Gandalf of course, who Aza had a history with. Legolas of Mirkwood. When he first saw Aza emerge from her hiding place on the roof, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. For a woman he once thought dead, he didn't know how to react.

Soon all of the people left the council area, leaving Aza and Legolas alone.

He approached her slowly, almost as if he was afraid she would dissipate. "Azriela?"

Cobryn had left his mistress's side.

"Legolas," she said, her voice managing to not betray her nervousness.

Once he came close to her, he held her tightly. "I watched you die. I watched you die _in my arms_." He pulled back, but kept his grip around her waist, "Aza…" he caressed one cheek with a soft hand. Aza closed her eyes, chemicals in her brain starting to affect her. "It's a miracle I have not yet faded from grief."

Aza sighed and opened her eyes, "I did tell you to get on with your life, didn't I?" She made a move to step away from him, but he held her fast. "I'm sorry. I did send word to you, that I was alive. But you were nowhere I could find you." She smiled and, this time, did manage to step away. "You've changed."

"As have you. Traveling with one of the race of men-." He was indicating Cobryn.

"Cobryn isn't a man," Aza said, quickly. "He's a _special_ case."

"I have missed you."

"I've missed you."

He took a deep breath, "The reasons you-."

"It's fine," she said, "all in the past. We need not discuss-."

"We do," he interrupted. "I lacked the maturity you needed." He took a step forward. "Over the years I thought about it over and over. Replaying everything I did to you in my mind." Another step forward. "And Aza. I thought that, if I could do it over again, I would have done things much differently." He took another step, "And I thought that, if I had one more chance," he closed the distance between them, "I would do it correctly."

Aza in haled with a shudder at his proximity.

He left a light kiss on her cheek, "So I am glad that you are coming with us."

When Aza opened her eyes, he was gone. Her cheeks were red and her breathing was hard. How did, after all of these years, he still have such a strong effect on her?

Later that afternoon Gandalf and Aza met up in the library to look over maps. They spent the afternoon behind piles of old tomes. It was rare, that afternoon, that they said a word to the other. But, at the end of their search, Gandalf said, "Azriela, after this quest, I am releasing you from your apprenticeship."

Aza froze. "What? Is it because Cobryn and I watched the secret council meeting? Am I being punished?"

"No," Gandalf assured her. "I knew that you would do such a thing. It is time for you to make your own way in the world. You cannot be attached to my side forever." He then said, under his breath, "I won't be here forever."

But Aza heard, "Yes you will. You're a wizard, the greatest one that has ever lived. You won't die."

Gandalf chuckled and placed a hand on Aza's shoulder, "I am flattered that you would think of me as such. But you would be wise to not put all your faith in me." He patted her shoulder, "You have a bright future ahead of you, Azriela, don't let the past hold you back from it."

With that he left her, dumbfounded, in the library.


	11. Break

I apologize for my lack of updates, but some things have become more important at the moment.  
I'm currently the stage manager at a production being put on by my city's biggest community theater company.  
I currently have a 4.0 average and want to keep it that way.  
I work at a grocery store (for a manager that I'm sure doesn't like me) and work 15-24 hours a week.  
I love writing and I love fanfiction and it makes me so sad that I don't have time for it at the moment. I want to continue writing fanfiction and writing my original work, but in order for me to achieve my goals I'm going to have to put one of them on hold until my life get's a little less crazy.  
I can't promise that I'll return to this soon as I don't see the future. But for now, my fanfiction account is on break.  
I'm sorry.  
-joop-pa-pa96


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